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Halloween How To- DIY Tuxedo Coffin Invitation

For months I've had this image in my head of a fancy invitation for a Vampire Ball or Vampire Themed Halloween Party.

A tuxedo in the shape of a coffin. Black tie with a side of Goth. My preferred style.I drew it out in my sketch book then tried to figure out how to make it work. I wanted it to be more than a coffin shaped card that opens. Those had been done before. I wanted to do something new.At first I tried to make the outer tuxedo one piece that would fold around the inside invitation to open up to reveal the invite. The angles were all wrong. With the shape of the coffin nothing would fold right. So I tossed it to the side and worked on other projects. But this one stuck in my head.Finally one day I picked it up and decided the outer coffin should only be about 3/4 of the total coffin shape and it should be an envelope. Presto! I found the magic combination.

Here's what you'll need for each invitation:

1-2 pieces of 8.5 x 11 Black Card Stock for the envelope2 pieces of 8.5 x 11 White Card Stock for inside coffin invite and for the shirt insert1 piece of gray, silver, or pewter craft paper. I used a sparkling pewter scrapbook paper.Red Card Stock, Construction Paper, or Scrap Paper- any type of paper you want to use for the bow. Red round faceted jewel sticker for inside of bow tie3 small black faceted jewel stickers for the buttons on the tux shirtSharp scissorsGlueOptional- red glitter for bow tie.Coffin Template

Tuxedo Pieces Template (sorry this is old school traced on paper and scanned. My daughter took the mac book and graphic tablet to college with her)

Instructions:Download my templates, print them out on regular white paper or card stock then cut out the shapes. Use these as templates. You can trim edges and adjust sizes if needed.Trace the template shapes onto your card stock. Cut out your pieces. Be sure to cut a v in the 3/4 coffin with the tabs. This is the opening for your tux shirt.Open the coffin template in your graphic design program and design your invitation on your printer using your details and font choices.Print your coffin invite on white card stock. Cut out the coffin.Put your two black coffin pieces together, the one with the tabs goes in front. The tabs fold around back creating the envelope. Glue the tabs onto the back piece.Slide your white tux shirt into the envelope and glue to the front piece.Add your silver/pewter tux lapel on the outside.Place your bow tie at the top of the shirt in the middle and glue in place. Optional- add glitter to the tie to make it sparkle. If you have fancy paper for the tie you won't need this.Add your jewels, one for the tie, three buttons on the shirt.Once all the glue is dry, slide your invite inside. All your party details should be hidden under the tuxedo. The only text showing should be "You're Invited" or whatever greeting you wish to place at the top "Halloween Party", "Vampire Ball", etc.

Everything else should be hidden until you slide the coffin out of the envelope.